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Article Excerpt
RICE, BEANS, TROPICAL FRUIT, ROOT VEGETABLES, nuts ... There are so many ingredients available in the different regions of the United States, used in so many flavorful ways. Regional American cuisine reflects the variety of native products combined with the resourcefulness and traditions of the people settling its valleys, mountains, coastlines, or prairies.
Regional cuisine used to be defined broadly as Eastern, Southern, Central, and Western. We know better. Just as the scenery varies from town to town, so do ingredients and cooking techniques. Don't like the food here? Just go on over to the next town! There are too many subregional American cuisines to count. And in addition to regional and subregional cuisines, there are the culinary cultures of American cities. Most metropolises offer a variety of cuisines that vary from neighborhood to neighborhood. Just think about barbecue sauces. There are styles from Chicago, Kansas City, North and South Carolina, Louisiana, and Santa Rosa, to name a very few.
This article will give you just an introduction to some of the sub-regional cuisines of the bountiful United States. It will get you thinking of how to use the regional and seasonal ingredients in your area.
FLORRIBEAN
Floribbean cuisine incorporates foods, flavors, and ingredients from the Caribbean, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Latin America, and Cuba, with dashes of Africa, India, and Southeast Asia not too far in the distance. It is truly New World cuisine.
One of the reasons for this is the region's rich history. South Florida has a tropical climate and an inviting coastline that has attracted settlers for hundreds of years. The Spanish explored the region and introduced European spices to the native cuisine. Slaves from Africa brought eggplant, yams, okra, and sesame seeds. Workers from the Bahamas contributed seasoned rice and pea stews. New England railroad workers brought chowders.
The British had control of Florida for a while in the 1700s and introduced baking and steaming into the Floribbean repertoire. There was a large Jewish influx to the Miami area in the 1920s; you could get a good rye bread and a bowl of borscht! The Cuban migration in the 1950s heavily influenced the local cuisine, adding to the dietary landscape such items as saffron-scented rice, strong coffee, and crusty bread, to name a few. Today, flavors from Haiti, Nicaragua, Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Cambodia are available in the cities of Florida.
Also, there are many kinds of foods available in Southern Florida. In addition to traditional crops, tropical and Latin American fruits, vegetables, and starchy vegetables, such as taro or...
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